Operating-table attachment



F 7' e. c. TAPLIN OPERATING TABLE ATTACHMENT Filed June 26 1925 PatentedFeb. 22, 192 7.

PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE C. TAPLIN, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

OPERATINGrTABLE ATTACHMENT.

Application filed June 26, 1925. Serial No. 39,852;

This invention relates to operating tables used by osteopaths, and otherpractitioners, who exert pressure in various directions on the recumbentbody of a patient, the body usually lying on a cushioned horizontaloperating table.

Lettters Patent granted to me December 6, 1921, No. 1,399,034, disclosesan operating table. having means for exerting pressure in variousdirection and in various locations on. the patients body, and enablingthe operator to utilize foot power, as well as manual power, inexerting-such pressure.

Letters Patent granted to me May 29, 1923, No. 1,457,093, disclosesother means whereby the operator is enabled to apply pressure to thepatients body.

The invention is embodied in the improvements hereinafter described andclaimed on the pressure-applying means disclosed by the last mentionedpatent.

Of the accompanying drawings forming a part of this speci.fication,

Figure 1 shows in transverse section'a portion of an operating table,and in side elevation, a pressureapplying attachment embodying thepresent improvements, as it appears when in operation.

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the body portion of my improvedpressure-applying pad.

Figure 3 shows in perspective, the elastic 'cnshion hereinafterdescribed, the cushion being shown by full lines in its original form,and by dotted lines, its form when in use.

Figure l shows in longitudinal section a portion of the pad-carryingbar, a shoe movable thereon and the pad in an operative position on thebar and shoe.

Figure 5 is a section on line 55 of Figure 4t.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all of thefigures.

The operating table shown by Figure 1, may be of any suitableconstruction, and may include. a flexible body support 12, formed by thetop of a pneumatic mattress and a frame supporting the mattress, asshown in my above-mentioned Patent No.'1,399,034-

The pressure-applying attachment is adapted to operate as shown by myPatent No. 1357,0923, and includes an elongated bar 17, having pulleys18 and 19 at its opposite end portions, and a pressure pad 20 betweenits ends. One end of a strap 21 is connected with the bar 17, at a pointnear the inner pulley 18. From the connected end the strap 21 extendspartly around the inner pulley 18, and from thence to the outer pulley19, from which it'depends, as shown by Figure 1. For a more completedescription of the construction and operation of the attachement, reference may be had to the last mentioned patent. The pad 20 is preferablycylindrical and composed of vulcanized rubber having a limited degree ofelasticity, such for example, as that possessed by ordinary rubberheels, and is provided with a passage 23 through which the bar 17extends, the periphery of the pad being preferably eccentric to thepassage. i

24 designates a shoe or strip of resilient metal slidable on the bar 17and interposed between the bar and one side of the passage 23. The baris provided with a series of spaced apart detent members 25 which arepreferably the margins of orifices formed in the bar, as shown byFigures 4 and 5. The

. shoe is provided with a complemental detent member 26, preferably aboss adapted toengage either of the members 25, and thus confine theshoe against movement on the bar. The resilience of the pad 20 normallyholds the detent member 26 in engagement with a member 25, and theresilience of the shoe permits it to be sprung outward as shown bydotted lines in'Figure 4, to separate the detent members. The shoe isprovided at its opposite ends with stops 27 adapted to bear on the endsof the pad. The shoe is preferably ofgreater length than the pad, asshown by Figure 2, so that the pad may be adjusted on the bar and theshoe to an extent limited by the distance between the stops. It will nowbe seen that the pad may be given movements of minor amplitude when theshoe is locked on the bar, and may be given movements of greateramplitude by sliding the shoe on the bar.

The resilience of the pressure-applying portion of the pad may beincreased by a cushion 28 of resilient material of greater resilience orcompressibility than that of the pad. To this end, I provide the padwith a preferably arcuate socket 29 extending from end to end of thepad, the curved sides of the slot being substantially concentric withthe periphery of the pad. The cushion is preferably composed of a stripor block of sponge rubber so proportioned than when flexed as shown bydotted lines in Figure 1, it may be inserted in and closely it thsocket. The effort of the cushion to assume its llat form causes itssides to frictionally engage the sides of the socket and thus preventliability of endwise displacement of the cushion in the socket. Thearrangement of the socket is such that its outer side is separated fromthe periphery of the pad by a thin pressure-applying portion 20 of thepad, which is much more flexible than the other portions and yieldinglybacked by the cushion. Crepe rubber or other suitably resilient andcompressible material may be employed as the material of the cushion,but I have found that the best results are obtained by using spongerubber.

It will be seen that the portion of thepad containing thepassage s3 andthe pocket 29, constitutes a solid body portion which, when made of amaterial such as semi-hard vulcanized rubber, has a limited elasticity,and is su'li'ieiently dense to cause the walls of the passage 23 toprevent the body from turning on the bar, so that one side of the bodyis maintained below the bar when the attachment is in use, this sideconstituting the pressure-applying portion of the pad.

The pocket 29 is formed between the pressureapplying portion and thepassage 23, so that the cushion 28 yieldingly backs the pressureapplyingportion. The solid body portion is adapted to sustain long continiicdWear incidental to its contact with the bar,

and to contact of its pressure-applying por tion with the patients bodyor the operators hand. i

I claim:

1. An operating-table attachment of the character stated, comprising anelongated bar having, spaced apart detent members :1

ill

resilient shoe slidable on the bar and pro vided with a com iilementaldetcnt member, and an elastic pressure pad surrounding the bar and theshoe and adapted by its elas ticity to hold the said detent member oi.the shoe in yielding engagen'ient with a detent member of the bar, theshoe being displaceable to separate the detent members, and permitmovement of the pad and shoe on the bar.

2. An operating-table attachment as specitied by claim 1, the shoe beingprovided with. stops arranged to bear on the ends of the pad.

3. An operating-table attachment as specilied by claim 1, the shoe beinglonger than the pad and provided with stops arranged to permit limitedmovements of the pad on the bar and shoe.

4. For use with an elongated bar eonstituting an element of an operatingattachment of the character stated, a pressure pad comprising a solidbody of elastic material having a limited elasticity and provided with alongitudinal bar-receiving passage, formed to permit sliding movementsof the body on the bar and prevent the body troi'u turning, so that oneside of the body is maintained below the bar and constitutes thepressure-applying portion of the pad, the body being provided also witha longitudinalsooliet between the said pz'issaee and pressure-app]yingportion, and an, elastic cushiono'l't greater elasticity than the bodyinserted in said pocket and backing the pressure-applying portion.

5. For use with an elongated bar constitutin an element of an operatingattach i'nent oi the character stated, a pressure pad composed ofelastic material of limited elas- -ticity and formed to surround saidbar, and

l'n'ovided with a socket containing an elastic cushion of greaterelasticity, backing the pressure-applying portion of the pad, the padbeing cylindrical and the sides of the pocket being arcuate andconcentric with the periphery of the pad, the cushion being): normallyfiat and flexed from its normal form lo enter the socket.

In testimony whereof I have aliixed my signature.

GEORGE C. 'IAPL'IN.

